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00:26Raise your travel dreams
00:28to their upright and locked positions.
00:31Join us now as we discover
00:32the ins and outs of Travels in Europe.
00:49I'm Rick Steves, your travel guinea pig.
00:52Delighted to be back for another tour
00:54with Travels in Europe.
00:55For more than 20 summers now,
00:57I've been exploring Europe,
00:58learning from my mistakes.
01:00And for half that time,
01:01I've been writing travel guidebooks.
01:03In these programs,
01:04we give you tips on how to enjoy
01:06a less expensive, more footloose adventure.
01:09Some of you were with us
01:10on our first tour to Holland,
01:12Germany, Switzerland,
01:14Paris, and London.
01:18On this tour, we have more tips
01:20and, as you can see,
01:21more great European vistas.
01:24We're starting our 3,000-mile itinerary
01:27here on the coast of Ireland.
01:29We'll travel from Ireland's lush west coast
01:31to Dublin and Belfast,
01:33then on to North Wales,
01:35Scotland, and the Cotswolds.
01:38We'll cross the channel to Belgium and France,
01:40and then head south to Spain and Portugal.
01:43All along the way,
01:44we'll enjoy the rich culture,
01:46art, and history
01:47of Europe's more offbeat nooks.
01:49And throughout,
01:51we'll demonstrate tips
01:52on how to travel smartly.
01:56Notice how we've arranged our trip
01:57in what travel agents call
01:59an open-jaws plan.
02:00By flying into Ireland
02:02and home from Portugal,
02:03we avoid the time-consuming return
02:06back to our starting point.
02:07And added advantage is
02:09we're able to design it
02:10in a way that starts with easy Ireland
02:12and works into the more difficult
02:13and different countries.
02:16In this program,
02:17we'll tour the wild and wet west coast
02:20of the Emerald Isle,
02:21exploring two places
02:22where the traditional Irish culture hides out,
02:25the Dingle Peninsula
02:27and the Aran Islands.
02:29We flew into Shannon Airport,
02:31picked up our car,
02:32and drove three hours to Dingle.
02:41Ireland is seductive.
02:42It's not Germany.
02:44You can't do it on a tight schedule.
02:50So give it some time
02:52and make a point to leave the crowds.
02:56This windy stretch of land
02:57is one of Ireland's
02:58few surviving Gaelic-speaking areas,
03:01or Gaeltex.
03:03It's the island's westernmost point,
03:05quietly living the way it wants to.
03:08Unlike nearby Killarney
03:09and the Ring of Kerry,
03:10Dingle has no promotional budget
03:13and ages peacefully.
03:17I fell in love here
03:18with the friendliest land
03:19this side of Sicily.
03:41On the Dingle Peninsula,
03:42you'll hear Irish spoken.
03:45You'll see signs in Irish,
03:46and you'll get a sense
03:48of the old Irish ways.
03:52Everybody thinks we're English.
03:54We are Irish.
03:56We are now going to say
03:57our fathers,
03:58did you ever hear that?
03:59In Irish.
04:15Irish language.
04:19You'll find Gaelic alive
04:21not only in the language,
04:22but working in the fields,
04:24singing in the pubs,
04:25and in the faces
04:26of the Irish who live there.
04:28Gaelic refers to the languages
04:30spoken by the Celtic tribes
04:32that conquered Ireland
04:33many centuries before Christ.
04:36Do you speak Gaelic?
04:38Yeah.
04:38Oh, yeah.
04:39Gaelic has been spoken here always
04:40since I've been a little kid,
04:42you know.
04:42Is it a dying language?
04:43No, not really.
04:44People think it is,
04:45but I don't think so.
04:46Good.
04:46While there'll be
04:47grandmothers and grandfathers
04:49around here,
04:50they'll always be Irish,
04:51you know.
04:51It goes from
04:53generation to generation,
04:54really.
04:55I have a brother in the States
04:56for the last 30 years,
04:57and he speaks it fluently,
04:58yeah.
04:58Yeah, never lost it.
05:00What's the value
05:00of preserving it?
05:01Oh, it's very valuable,
05:03really.
05:03It is.
05:04It's our,
05:04the land,
05:05I have to say it in Gaelic to you.
05:07Shaitanga or Didi,
05:08you know,
05:09it's our native language
05:10and we should have it.
05:11If your map's in English,
05:13good luck.
05:14The old timers
05:16are a proud bunch.
05:17And around here,
05:18when the signposts
05:19are in both English
05:20and Gaelic,
05:21you might find the English
05:23spray-painted out.
05:28Our home base is Dingle,
05:30a popular fishing village.
05:32It's a good place
05:33to spend your first
05:34Irish night.
05:37Dingle's a pub crawl
05:38waiting to happen.
05:401,500 locals
05:41with 50 pubs.
05:43A pub and music
05:44for every taste.
05:46And no need for a car.
05:48If I go on
05:50from the heart of the heart
05:53I go home to my friend
05:56but that's what I've done
05:58I'm gonna ask them to come
06:00and that's what I've done
06:02When they're bigger
06:04it's blue
06:05is out like before
06:07I never will play
06:09the way I won't
06:10or no more
06:11and it's no day never
06:16No day never
06:17or no more
06:26Here's a tip
06:27Never hurry the bartender
06:29when he's pouring a Guinness
06:30It must be drawn slowly
06:33or you'll get more foam
06:34than beer
06:42If you want a small beer
06:44ask for a glass
06:46When you say
06:47a beer please
06:48in Ireland
06:48you get a full pint
06:58All over Ireland
07:00music is a major form
07:01of entertainment
07:03You might find
07:04a tin whistle
07:05a fiddle
07:05a flute
07:06goat skin drums
07:07and voices
07:09that sound better
07:10as the night goes on
07:15In England's determination
07:17to rid Ireland
07:18of its culture
07:18Queen Elizabeth I
07:20outlawed traditional music
07:22Hang all the harpers
07:23where found
07:24she ordered
07:24and burn the instruments
07:26and the order
07:28was carried out
07:29That was almost
07:30400 years ago
07:34Today music makers
07:36still play instruments
07:36from their villages
07:37and often it's a tune
07:39written by a friend
07:40from just down the road
07:46We're feeling pretty good
07:47for our first morning
07:48in Europe
07:48To beat jet lag
07:50we made ourselves
07:51stay up
07:51until a reasonable
07:52European bedtime
07:53and slept fairly well
07:55Now it's time
07:56to immerse ourselves
07:57in the beauty
07:57of this chunk
07:58of the British Isles
07:59The perfect way
08:01a Gaelic bike ride
08:02and jet lag
08:03hates bright daylight
08:05fresh air
08:06and exercise
08:13All over Europe
08:15you can find
08:15bicycle rental shops
08:16wherever bike touring
08:18is a good idea
08:19Hello, can I rent a bike?
08:20Sure
08:21It's five pounds
08:22for a bike
08:22for the day
08:23and I need an ID
08:24of some sort
08:25Will my passport do?
08:26Sure, that's fine
08:27Don't worry
08:28when collateral
08:28is required
08:29A signed traveller's check
08:31or your passport
08:32will do
08:33Europeans are relaxed
08:35about leaving their passports
08:36when necessary
08:37Bike rental
08:38is usually inexpensive
08:39and it's a great way
08:40to travel close
08:41to the ground
08:42even if you haven't
08:43biked since school days
08:44about 7 o'clock
08:46before 7 o'clock
08:47that's correct
08:48yes
08:51B
09:19Maps posted along the road
09:21show the circular route around the peninsula.
09:23We're starting in Dingle Town.
09:25We'll bike around Sleigh Head,
09:27take a boat ride out to Blasket Island and back,
09:30and continue pedaling around home to Dingle Town.
09:33The entire circle is about 20 miles.
09:38This is melodramatic.
09:40Treacherous black rock cliffs,
09:43crashing surf,
09:45rugged coastlines stretching forever,
09:48and wind-blown photographers
09:50flapping like flags from their tripods.
09:53You know, they say this is the closest point in Europe
09:57to the United States.
09:58Right here, Sleigh Head.
10:00Yeah, Sleigh Head.
10:06Tucked away in those cliffs and fields
10:08lie prehistoric and early Christian artifacts.
10:13Imagine the monks who called this place home
10:15a thousand years ago.
10:17In the 7th century,
10:19during the Dark Ages,
10:20when literate life nearly died,
10:23peace-loving, bookwormish Christian monks
10:25fled the chaos and battles of the continent.
10:30They sailed to this lonely fringe of the known world
10:34and lived their monastic lives
10:36in simple, medieval beehive huts.
10:40This cluster is called the Fahen Group.
10:43The stone huts were built without mortar.
10:45Imagine, just you, a hut,
10:49and a desolate world.
10:53These people kept literacy alive,
10:56and Europe knew it.
10:58Charlemagne, who ruled much of Europe in the year 800,
11:00imported Irish monks to be his scribes.
11:03They sparked a mini-Renaissance,
11:06which was named after Charlemagne,
11:08the Carolingian Renaissance.
11:13And just down the road,
11:15looking like an upside-down boatswain,
11:17stands Ireland's best-preserved primitive church,
11:20the Gallerous Oratory.
11:22It survived watertight
11:24through 1,500 years of Irish reign,
11:27and not a chunk of mortar used.
11:37The priest-explorer of the 6th century,
11:40St. Brendan,
11:40is said to have set sail from here
11:42in search of a legendary western paradise.
11:46Some think he landed in North America.
11:49This guy may have beaten Columbus
11:51by nearly 1,000 years.
11:55For a more modest,
11:56but possibly equally frightening voyage,
11:59we could catch the little ferry
12:00to the Blasket Islands.
12:03Ten years ago,
12:04we might have made the trip
12:05in one of these curracks.
12:06They're the traditional fishing boat around here,
12:09made of tarred skins,
12:11stretched around a light wooden frame.
12:16The ferry schedule is based purely on demand,
12:19and the weather.
12:20Too windy today.
12:25The Blasket Islands,
12:26all ten miles of them,
12:28are revered locally
12:29as a refuge for Ireland's folklore.
12:32Camping is free,
12:33but take your own food.
12:36The last inhabitants left in 1953.
12:40The tiny community on Blasket
12:42was the only part of Ireland
12:43spared the famine
12:44caused by the failure
12:45of the potato harvest in 1848.
12:48Their harvest came from the sea.
12:55Life on the Blaskets
12:56inspired some good writing.
12:58To relive island life,
13:00drop into a local bookstore
13:02for favorites like
13:0320 Years a Growing,
13:05The Island Man,
13:07and Peg.
13:09Let's pedal on to Bally Farreter.
13:30We'll stop at Murphy's Pub
13:32long enough to get
13:33a hot bowl of soup.
13:36Usually I picnic,
13:37but in Ireland,
13:38pub grub is a great ace
13:41in the rainy day hole.
13:44Gaelic speakers will remind you
13:45that every year,
13:47five languages go extinct,
13:49and they'd love to teach you
13:50a few words of their favorite.
13:53Slaan to ma.
13:54Slaan to ma.
13:55Slaan to ma.
13:55Okay, so let's try that.
13:56I'll go slaan to.
13:57Slaan to ma.
13:59Okay.
14:00I've learned that.
14:01Good.
14:01Yes, yes.
14:08Although Ireland has fine hotels,
14:10I rent a room
14:11in a private home
14:13with Mrs. Farrell.
14:15Bed and breakfast
14:16give you double
14:16the cultural intimacy
14:17for half the price.
14:21A good Irish fry.
14:22A good Irish breakfast
14:24in the morning.
14:25You need that for Slaan today?
14:27That's for sure.
14:28A little toast.
14:29A plank here for you?
14:31Sure.
14:33You'll find B&Bs
14:34all over Europe.
14:39You live simply.
14:42I figure about
14:43half the cold showers
14:45we Americans
14:45shiver through on our trips
14:47could have been hot
14:48if we understood
14:49the faucet.
14:52Mrs. Farrell,
14:54can you help me
14:55with the shower?
14:57Just rest it like that.
15:01I'd like,
15:02I mean,
15:03when they do book
15:03in advance
15:04and call me
15:05from the States
15:06that they would
15:06honor the booking.
15:07But a lot of them
15:08don't, you see?
15:09No, they never show up.
15:11I keep my room
15:12and I wait
15:13and wait
15:14and nobody comes.
15:19another budget option
15:20is Ireland's extensive
15:22network of hostels.
15:23The Ballantaggart House
15:25Hostel
15:25is a 300-year-old
15:27hunting lodge
15:27that also rents horses.
15:29Patty Fenton
15:31ignored stories
15:32about its ghost
15:32and turned it into
15:34cheap lodging
15:34for young travelers.
15:36They get clean dorms,
15:38a fire in the reading room,
15:39a kitchen,
15:40and a history lesson
15:41in the courtyard.
15:43This is a bowl
15:44that comes from the,
15:45when the hostel
15:46was a soup kitchen
15:46during the 1840,
15:491845 famine.
15:51The bowl is cast iron
15:52and has been here
15:53ever since.
15:54The soup kitchen
15:55was set up
15:55by the British
15:56to feed the Catholics.
15:58You only got fed
16:00with the soup
16:00if you converted
16:01to Protestantism.
16:12All right.
16:14See you, Patty.
16:15All of us.
16:16Take care.
16:16Thanks.
16:20There you go.
16:30You can't help
16:31but pick up
16:32some of Ireland's
16:33sad history
16:33as you travel.
16:34And the famine
16:35was just one chapter.
16:39Here's another story
16:40at Minard Castle
16:41near Dingle.
16:43In 1641,
16:45this fortress
16:46defended the locals
16:46against the English
16:47Protestant armies
16:48of Oliver Cromwell.
17:00The Irish held out bravely
17:02until heavy artillery
17:03blew up each corner
17:05of the castle.
17:07Today, Minard Castle
17:09stands as a stark reminder
17:10of Cromwell's conquest
17:11of Ireland.
17:13By 1650,
17:15hundreds of thousands
17:15had died.
17:21And with that,
17:22we leave the bittersweet
17:23past in warmth.
17:24of Dingle.
17:38Remember,
17:39you can get to
17:40virtually anywhere
17:41in Ireland
17:42by public transportation.
17:45Ireland supplements
17:46its rather sleepy
17:48train service
17:48with a first-rate
17:50bus system.
17:51And if you're traveling
17:52by Eurail Pass,
17:52you know that while
17:53Britain is not
17:54covered,
17:55Ireland is.
17:56And the train pass
17:57gets you onto
17:57the buses for free.
18:00With all our
18:01television equipment,
18:02we're traveling
18:03by car.
18:09No visit to Ireland's west coast
18:11is complete without a look
18:12at the Arran Islands.
18:15It's about a three-hour
18:16drive from here
18:17and an hour ferry ride
18:18from Doolin.
18:23Drivers enjoy this bonus,
18:26the staggering cliffs
18:27of Moor.
18:40Stark terror and extreme caution
18:42kept our crew from falling
18:44into the sea
18:44with the ever-crumbling cliff.
19:03The next boat goes
19:04tomorrow morning,
19:05so we'll find
19:06a bed and breakfast
19:07here
19:07in the windblown town
19:09of Doolin.
19:13Doolin,
19:14an off-beat mecca
19:16for good Gaelic folk music.
19:18son of Doolin.
19:20Son of credit,
19:25in a
19:25no-an off-beat mecca i have caught
20:08It's a brisk morning for our picturesque crossing
20:11aboard a friendly Doolin Ferry.
20:25Another gale tech, the Arran Islands are Ireland in the extreme.
20:32We're on Inishmore, the largest of the three islands, nine miles long,
20:36with one drowsy town, a sleepy farming economy,
20:41and a thought-provoking history.
20:44What do they mean?
20:45Wear something warm. Ireland didn't become the Emerald Island by baking in the sun.
20:52Like the rest of Ireland, the Arran Islands are dotted with remnants of early Christian and prehistoric times.
20:59For example, this Iron Age fortress, Dunangus.
21:03A superb setting to enjoy the ancient Irish Yuland Pipe and the Mandala.
21:30The Iron Age
21:54The cliffs dive about 400 feet straight into the sea.
22:03Rather than locking out the enemy, today its gates open wide for a festival of sunbathers,
22:09history buffs, and modern day troubadours.
22:31The stone fences of Ireland tell many stories.
22:35This tiny island alone has over 500 miles of stone fences.
22:41Before Irish independence, British law required families to divide their land among all heirs,
22:46fragmenting even the largest estates into plots too small to support a family.
22:52As a result, millions of Irish left their country.
22:55Those who remained cleared the stony land to make it arable.
23:01The tiny rock-fenced lots today remind farmers of the poverty and hard work that shaped their
23:06history.
23:16And weary farmers have never bothered with gates.
23:20They take a hunk of wall down, let their sheep pass, and stack the wall again.
23:31But this extraordinary island is by no means bleak.
23:37Just when you think you've reached the end of Ireland, you step into a pub, and it's
23:42Ye Olde Home Week.
23:43Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
24:13Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
24:20oh.
24:21I never leave the Arran Islands without promising myself I'll be back.
24:29Imagine Ireland in its heyday, when its population was eight million, about double what it is today.
24:35Before the British came, before the potato famine, before so many Irish families emigrated to America.
24:49the terrible beauty
24:51Yates called Ireland
24:55and through
24:56all their hard times
24:58the Irish people remain
25:00Ireland's most wonderful attraction
25:15the friendliness
25:17and relaxed pace of living here
25:18causes many speedy travelers
25:20to toss their itineraries into the sea
25:28and we've lots more of Ireland to see
25:30so join us next time
25:32as we savor the hubbub, history and charm
25:34of Ireland's two capitals
25:36Dublin and Belfast
25:40you'll feel Ireland's pulse
25:42in the city of James Joyce
25:49and in Northern Ireland
25:50you'll find a safer
25:52and friendlier charm
25:53than its image of troubles
25:54might lead you to believe
26:01until then
26:02I'm Rick Steams
26:03wishing you happy travels
26:05here we go
26:06yes, see you next week
26:11home videos of destinations in this series
26:14are available for $24.95
26:17to order the 60-minute
26:19two-program tape on Western Ireland
26:21and Dublin, Belfast
26:23or any other destination tapes
26:25call 1-800-866-7425
26:28also available
26:30Rick's 422-page Europe Through the Back Door book
26:33for $17.95
26:34to order
26:36please have your credit card ready
26:37and call
26:381-800-866-7425
26:44music plays in bright rhythm
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